What are the main reasons Brits choose to renovate their homes?

A home renovation is high up the list for many. Over time, even the most beautiful home can begin to look a little worn, outdated, or not geared towards requirements and even then, there’s much to be said for keeping up to date on the latest styles.

Renovations are costly – a three-bed home costs around £56,425 to fully renovate in 2021, according to Checkatrade research – so it’s crucial we renovate for all the right reasons. But what’s the national picture? Why do people in Britain choose to renovate their homes?

To answer this question, online interior design community Houzz created its 2020 Houzz & Home UK report. Here’s what they found.

The main reasons Brits choose to renovate

The top five reasons why Brits wanted to renovate in 2019 were as follows:

• 37% wanted to do it all along and finally had the financial means
• 37% wanted to do it all along and finally had the time
• 30% recently purchased or moved into a home and wanted to customise it
• 21% needed to adapt to recent family and/or lifestyle changes
• 16% were addressing recently discovered deterioration and damage

Understandably, 40–54-year-olds were most likely to renovate due to finally having the financial means, and people renovating due to having more time on their hands were most likely to be aged 55-75. No surprises there; the older we are, the more money and time we have on our hands!

How are renovations being funded?

Cash and savings were by far the most popular means of funding work, with 85% of respondents saying they used this funding method, followed by credit card (20%), cash from a previous house sale (14%), cash from a home mortgage refinancing (13%), and money from a gift or inheritance (10%).

Interestingly, 25-39 and 40-54-year-olds were much more likely to use equity release to fund their remodelling (16% and 19% respectively), compared to just 5% of 55–74-year-olds. Equity release can be a useful way for older people to access non-pension sources of money. That makes the results surprising, given that this cohort are more likely to own their homes.

What are people renovating?

Exterior features, home systems, and interior features all saw an average of 2.8 upgrades each in 2019. In terms of rooms Brits renovated, bedrooms and bathrooms came out on joint top (29%), followed by the kitchen (27%), living room (26%), and entrance hall (20%).

Brits opted en-masse to give their central heating a boost too, with this being the most likely home system upgrade, while windows and skylights were the most popular exterior feature renovated – who doesn’t love getting a bit more light into the home, after all?

Are you planning on a renovation? Which bits of your home are you looking to update? Let me know in the comments below.